Christmas Letter 2014

Blessed Christmas Season and Happy New Year to ALL

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Dear Ones,

This is sent with the hope that you and your families and communities are enjoying these special days; that they have enriched your relationships, extended your love and made memories for a lifetime. As I begin to write and look back on this year I am amazed at the amount and variety of events that have transpired; all the challenges, all the joys, all the new experiences (some that I would not trade at all and others that I could have easily done without). Where does the time go and how does life get so complicated?

Late in 2013 we welcomed Matilda Anne Pleva, daughter of Teresa and Andrew, into the world. She appears above back in October with her adoring cousin Nicholas, son of Kim and Jonathan, and now almost 11 years old. Here he is in another picture with his brother Benjamin who just celebrated his 8^th birthday. Jonathan and family moved from Waterbury, CT to Chelmsford, MA to which he was transferred as a Boy Scout Council Executive. Theirs is a very busy family.

 

Now little Matilda has a new cousin who arrived on November 1, 2014, Harrison Cooper Pleva, son of Heidi and Matthew. He is just adorable and I can’t wait to get my hands on him again. Heidi and Matthew also juggle a great deal in their lives with regular jobs and their shop “Art Riot” on John Street in Kingston. Matt’s tour de force this year was painting an outdoor mural (35 x 65ft.) depicting historic Kingston and the Old Dutch Church. Hard on the heels of Harrison’s birth came the installation of another holiday window designed by Matt for the Blue Cashew shop in Rhinebeck.

 

Teresa and Andrew are about to close on purchase of a house whose history will be a blessing to them. In a few weeks they will moved into 41 Lafayette Avenue, Kingston just 2 blocks from the house in which Andrew grew up and where Matthew and family live now. Everyone really wanted to be near each other and create family for the children. The 1920s vintage house belonged for over 50 years to a couple who were pillars of the church and most generous souls so a loving spirit will surround them there. The house which was very well maintained has an extra bedroom and full bath on the first floor, a wrap-around porch, three 2^nd floor bedrooms and a walk-up attic with some finished space and built-in cedar closet. The new life and new homes are answers to prayer and a call to gratitude at the end of this year.

 

There were challenges too during which the appeal to God was for the gifts of wisdom and compassion. In May my mother who was being treated for pneumonia fell during the night in her assisted living bedroom. She got a bad gash on her head and lay in a pool of blood for a long time. Nothing was broken but she required hospitalization for a week and then nursing home placement to recoup from the fall and the pneumonia. So I searched for a better choice than the 3 other nursing homes she has spent time in during the last 2 years. We settled on Putnam Ridge in Brewster, NY about a 35 minute drive from me and an hour less in travel time then to Tuxedo for my sister living in Connecticut. Rose was still heavily involved in the task of selling my parents’ house. That was accomplished in July.

 

When my mother went to the nursing home she just wanted to be left alone to sleep and had to be fed at meals. We assured the staff that she was walking independently the day before her fall and would come back to life. By the middle of July she had indeed become herself but all agreed she could no longer live safely in assisted living. So Putnam Ridge has become her permanent home.

 

No sooner was the decision made than we learned that her brother, my Uncle Joseph Milazzo age 82, had collapsed in a laundromat in Margate, FL near his home. I flew down on July, 26. His condition was very poor and it was clear that he could not live alone any longer. I worked furiously to get necessary legal documents created, organize his papers, put his condo into some order, dispose of a great deal and supervise his care as he went from hospital to nursing home, back to hospital and then back to nursing home in the space of 2 weeks. Since he was too ill to travel on a commercial plane and I was unable to stay in Florida permanently, we decided to fly him to NY via private air ambulance jet and place him in the nursing home with my mother. They enjoyed a loving reunion in mid-August. But his condition continued to deteriorate. Although we knew his condition was poor we were surprised by his sudden death on October 3^rd. He now rests in St. John’s Cemetery in Queens where his mother was buried in 1932 when he was just 3 months old. My uncle worked hard all of his life as a master carpet mechanic. He never married; he lived well but not extravagantly. He played the market and later settled into reliable investments. As generous as he was in life he could be as generous in death. At this time both my sister and I are dealing with all the responsibilities which follow upon the deaths of both my uncle my father. We have learned a great deal; everything is very complicated even with the aid of lawyers and accountants.

 

My mother is being well taken care of but the sight of her in the Memory Wing of the nursing home among patients with similar dementia symptoms and many others so much farther along the way in their gradual total departure from reality is often difficult to bare. I remind myself that her manner indicates that she is nothing but content and feeling safe. She walks with a walker but is getting even slower. She does not remember that her brother was there and she rarely asks about my father. We worry only about falls and pneumonia.

 

For years I have not traveled too much with exception of trip to Ireland in 2011. This year brought trips to Sioux Falls, SD in January to transfer our sewing business to another community; to Indianapolis, IN for an Association of Contemplative Sisters leadership meeting; to Florida during the summer; and to St. Louis in September for ACS national meeting. While these were all lovely experiences I find air travel very uncomfortable and arduous.

 

A month before the trip to Florida I had hip surgery to correct some unanticipated problems after hip replacement in 2010 – residual pain from a muscle rubbing against the artificial hip joint and also a bone spur beneath it. Surgery at NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases was a great experience – just a 2 day stay.

 

Our community continues to live the blessing of sharing a monastery with the Carmelite nuns. In May we moved our three sisters from assisted living in Mt. Vernon, NY to the infirmary (Lourdes Health Care) of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Wilton CT. Sr. Mary had begun to experience seriously declining health. We supported her through a number of hospitalizations both before and after the move to Wilton. Our much beloved sister passed into the arms of God on December 9. So at this writing, as we decorate for Christmas, we are still processing the loss of our sister. In February, we had supported the Carmelites in their loss of Sr. Michael Ann, a very dear and wise person who was the first prioress of the union of three Carmelite communities which came together here in 1998.

Each day I seem to be playing catch up with the list of things to do; paper work and phone calls for family matters, secretarial work for the community, household chores, managing our various sites on the internet (see links below), writing for blogs and other publications, knitting for our on-line shop and for the new babies in my life. But distractions abound and other things come along to take precedence. I try to visit my mother once a week. When I can I find time to do the writing I am drawn to – opinion or memoire pieces that I publish to my blog, an essay for our Order’s international publication, and lately meaningful obituaries.

 

So often I find myself moving into default mode and thinking I should call Dad and Mom about some article I have seen that would interest them; share a story about the new ones in the family; tell them about something wonderful I found among my uncle’s things; ask for a recipe or practical advice; or seek philosophical discussion of the fate of our world. Then I face the fact that none of this is possible any longer. I have passed into the mode of being the one who receives those calls from my own children who want to share an achievement, recount the vagaries of the home buying experience these days, tell of a child’s new stage of development, or ask about advisable treatment for childhood illness. All very gratifying, but also reminding of years passing all too quickly. Another reminder came in the death of my father’s best friend, Vito Capuco of Annapolis, MD in September. They met at City College in 1948. As I moved among his dear family and their many friends at wake and funeral the memories came in almost overwhelming waves.

 

I look forward to the year 2015 which will include some travel, time to do some things pushed aside for too long. It will include celebration of our Sr. Lydia’s 50^th jubilee of vows; Jonathan running in the Boston Marathon in a fundraising effort on behalf of a charity which emerged from the Newtown tragedy; Teresa and Andrew moving into their new home.

 

Have been praying for all of you throughout  the Advent Season, our Christmas Novena and these days of the solemn feast of the Incarnation. I am drawn particularly to the needs of long married couples experiencing the challenges of ageing, the suffering of refugees and those enduring violence of any kind, as well as the fate of our planet.

 

Thank you for the gift you are to me and for the continuing relationship which is only blessing. Best wishes to you and yours for the coming year. Stay in touch. It means so much.

May God bless us all.    
With the assurance of prayers and with much love,

                                                       Hildegard

E-mail: hpleva@gmail.com

Personal Blog:  MonasticMusingsOSsR.blogspot.com

Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/HildegardPleva

Community Website and Blog:  http:/www.RedNuns.org
Community Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/RedNunsEsopus
Monastery On-Line Shop: www.etsy.com/shop/RedNunsRoberie

Shop Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/RedNunsRoberie

Christmas Novena Begins Today

 

 

 

Novena Prayer

 

Adore, O my soul,

in the bosom of Mary

the only begotten

Son of God

who was made man

for love of you.

 



Greeting the New Year of 2013



Roman Missal Page Decoration

Created by Brother Max Schmalzl, CSsR

1850 - 1930

HAPPY and BLESSED

NEW YEAR to ALL

on this

Solemnity of the Mother of God

 

 

Illustrations of the various titles for Jesus (Root of Jesse, Morning Star, Key of David, Alpha and Omega) adorn the corners of this piece so rich in detail and buzzing with activity. Some of your image will be blocked but this had to be enlarged as much as possible to show the detail. Fortunately the great work of this modest German Redemptorist Brother is enjoying a renaissance.

 

 

Some changes are coming to this blog with the arrvial of the New Year. Stay tuned!



Redemptoristine Contemplative Christmas

We hope you enjoy a tour of our home all decked out for Christmas. As decorations appeared we all thought, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas." It was great to be able to say that even though this is not really our home.

Enjoy the slide show and be sure to turn on your speakers.

This free photo slideshow customized with Smilebox

Welcoming the
Christ Child
into our
Fractured World

Most of the people I know - people who genuinely wish to spiritually welcome the newborn Jesus into their lives at Christmas - find themselves struggling to go to a place within, a place free of the demands, the craziness, the media assault, and the violence around us.

 

This poem written by the monk Thomas Merton over 50 years ago offers all of us some encouragement and comfort.

An Advent Song

Into this world, this demented inn,
in which there is absolutely no room
for Him. Christ has come uninvited.

He comes...
to the crisis before breakfast
the unexpected at dinner
in between the cranky toddler
and the exasperating senior citizen

when fatigue blights our day
worry disturbs our night
disappointment saps our strength
defeat destroys our hope...

into this demented inn
Jesus comes
and though uninvited..
stays.

Do check out our new

community website

RedNuns.org

Mystery of the Hummel Figurine

On December 27, 2011 I posted a piece about our Redemptoristine tradition of displaying the infant Jesus in many places in the monastery - some as big as a baby doll and some as small as this 5" Hummel figure. I told the story of how I received it as a gift over 50 years ago and have long wondered about its origin and value. Someone else, googling around to find out about their similiar baby  Jesus was brought to this blog and sent the following:

I was searching "google" for information about my bisque Hummel Infant Jesus and your Blog came up.  Because you told how you acquired your Infant Jesus, I'll tell you how I acquired mine.

My Hummel is exactly like yours, but mine is the "large" figurine -- it's about 11.5" long.  I bought it in the fall of 1953 through my German teacher at Mundelein College, Chicago, a darling little German nun (BVM) whose name I now forget, but it probably is in my "year book", if I could ever locate that after all this time.   She was well acquainted with Berta Hummel's religious order and had an arrangement to purchase the "Infants" at cost -- both the small one ($3 I think) and the large one ($6, as I remember).  Most of my classmates who bought one, bought the small one.  But I (and possibly one other student) bought the large one -- mine was my Christmas gift to my Mother -- so I needed to be generous.  She displayed it with her Christmas decorations every year.

Following my mother's death about 6 years later, I reclaimed the Infant Jesus and have displayed it with my Christmas decorations since.  It has survived the move from Chicago to Iowa to California, earthquakes, and 5 kids.  I used to hang it above the fireplace, but now I display it on the mantel in a woven oval basket filled with gold-colored garlands, rolled up, to make a "bed of straw." 

My figurine has the name "Hummel," and the "v" and "bee" stamped on it, indicating that it was made between 1950 and 1955.  It also has the numerals: 78/6 on the back -- I have no idea what this means.  It's the same light beige coloring, and has the two holes in back, as yours.  I have a memory (which I no longer trust) that my German teacher said that Berta Hummel never made any figurines, except this one of the Infant Jesus -- as all her other works were drawings (and the typical figurines were made by other artists, based on her drawings).  The Infant Jesus figurines, which you and I have, are (supposedly) made from molds of the original work of Berta Hummel.

Many thanks,

Also, I have no idea of the value of your Infant Jesus, or mine.  My one "google" search was fruitless in this regard.  But, I know that mine is as "priceless" to me as yours is to you.

Thank you for your Blog, and wishing you God's blessings in this New Year.

NCV

This correspondence got me searching again and came up with this. Here's the link:

www.tace.com/i/35663.html I found a complete description of my small Jesus and a perfect picture. It was made between 1952-1959. Unfortuantely no value was given because the item was sold off line. 

Perhaps this bit of research and exchange of memories will excite those who collect Hummels and prompt them to to share stories and information.

Welcome The Prince of Peace




The Presentation in the Temple by Brother Max Schmalz, CSsR



Mass Readings for Today

1 John 2:18-21

Psalm 95:1-2, 11-13

John 1:1-18

The first reading in the Liturgy of the Word today speaks of the end times. The celebrant, Fr. Thomas Deely, CSsR, asked us to consider this in terms of the end of one year and the beginning of another. He suggested we meditate upon how we might fill in the blanks in the following: "Today is the end of ___________. Tomorrow, the start of the New Year is the beginning of ________."

What would we like to see ended this day? And what would we like to begin with the first day of 2012? I immediately thought that this should be the last day of war and all its horrors. Perhaps I am being sent in this direction by news of our troops returning from Iraq while so many are still deployed and losing their lives elsewhere. Perhaps it is the books I am reading about the 1930s in Germany and the relentless build up in the will of a megalomaniac infusing a whole nation with a spirit of revenge and hatred preparing them to do the unspeakable. It may be the most recent constant conjecturing in the media about possibility of war with Iran.

Earlier this morning, at the Office of Readings which we combine with Morning Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours, we were offered a selection from the writings of St. Pope Leo the Great. He proposes that we too are born with Jesus and born into his peace. Here are some exerpts to ponder...

In adoring the birth of our Saviour, we find that we are celebrating the commencement of our own life, for the birth of Christ is the source of life for Christian folk, and the birthday of the Head is the birthday of the body.

The enitre body of the faithful is born in the font of baptism, crucified with Christ in his passion, raised again in his resurrection, and placed at the Father's right hand in his ascension,so with Him are they born in this nativity.

But in the treasures of the Lord's bounty what can we find so suitable to the honour of the present feast as the peace which at the Lord's nativity was first proclaimed by the angel choir.

...[We] must offer to the Father the unanimity of peace loving sond and daughters.

...The Father in his gracious favour has adopted as his heirs...those that are one with him in feeling and affection. Those who are re-modelled after one pattern must have a spirit like the model.

The birthday of the Lord is the birthday of peace.

Responsory 

Christ came and preached the Good News of peace to all..for he himself is the peace between us.

May January 1, 2012

be the birthday of

PEACE

throughout the world.



Memories of Christmas

Chapel Infant Jesus 2011
Hummel Bisque

 

Since the days of our foundress, Venerable Maria Celeste Crostarosa, there has been a Christmas tradition in our Order of displaying a large baby Jesus figure in a cradle. Her monastery in Foggia, Italy has an infant Jesus figure dressed in clothes that are said to have been made by her own hands.  We continue that tradition and have this Infant Jesus under our tree. This Bambino is larger than most baby dolls, at least two feet in length. But the infant above is much smaller and brings it own story. This year it rests on a small round-topped table placed in front of the ambo in our chapel.

The little baby Jesus figurine is about five inches in length. It has been in my possession for fifty years and followed me to the monastery. It was a gift from a Sister of St. Joseph of Brentwood, NY, Sr. Mary Corita Hawthorn, CSJ. I was a public school girl who attended her 8th grade Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (aka CCD) class on Wednesday afternoons during 'released time' from public school. Yes, we were permitted to leave school at 2pm Wednesday afternoons to walk to the local Catholic school, if our parents wished it, for religious instuction. Sister and I struck up a frienship that lasted until 2010 when she passed on to her great reward. I think I was a real curiosity to her because even though the product of public education and non-church-going parents, I passed the exams for admission into the finest of Brooklyn Catholic high schools for girls, a flagship high school of her congregation. Some time during my high school years she presented me with this baby Jesus as a Christmas gift.

Being half German I fully appreciated the artistry and value of this Hummel figurine. On the back of the figure the Hummel name has been molded into the bisque. There is the familiar Hummel logo of the "vee" with the bumble bee above it and the word "Germany" stamped in ink on the back also. Unlike most other Hummel figures this one is not multi-colored but very subdued in light brown and biege. The back also has two holes which would allow for the figure to be hung on a wall.

I remember that it took me a few years of prowling around the post-Christmas sales in New York City department stores to find a cradle to fit this babe. This little one, just perfect in its construction of twigs delicately nailed together, has been carefully re-glued a number of times. But it survives.

These last few days I have searched the internet to find the market value of this piece. None of the Hummel price lists I have found included this exact piece. Maybe someone out there will know more about this. No matter what monetary value may be revealed, this Bambino is priceless to me. It speaks of Jesus in such a sweet voice and speaks of an old and dear friend who reached out to a student to encourage, to reassure and to teach the faith.  





Our Community Christmas Letter

From Your Redemptoristine

Sisters

Advent 2011

We come to you this Advent in the posture of Naomi and Ruth, Mary and Joseph: standing together at the crossroads journeying to a new home: Bethlehem.

Both couples were living in a time of mystery.  Naomi, a widow, decided to return to her native land, Bethlehem, and her daughter-in-law Ruth joins her saying, “Where you go, I will go; where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.”  And it can be imagined that as Mary and Joseph journeyed together in a time of expectant wonder to be registered in Bethlehem they said similar words to each other.    And we, Redemptoristines in Esopus, echo that sentiment.  

We began the New Year with a visit from the new Redemptorist Provincial of the Baltimore Province, Rev. Kevin Moley and his Council. They came to inform us about the decision made by their Chapter to end Redemptorist ministries at Mount St. Alphonsus in Esopus come January of 2012.  This startling news held ramifications for us as we were told the whole property would be leased out and we would have to move to a new location next Spring.    Thus our search began.

Along the way we have been helped by many generous people with advice and leads to houses and convents in the Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts area.  We even looked into a place in West Virginia!  Most of the places we visited, either on the Internet or in person, were not suitable for a monastery.  Most old convents sit on small plots of land overshadowed by other buildings.  They tend to be in disrepair and in need of renovation to permit our sisters to age gracefully within the monastery and for all of us to live fully our contemplative life. And even the luxury houses we investigated did not have the right configuration for a chapel, bedrooms, workspace, library, community room and offices, not to mention that they were outside our financial resources.  

We do have hope and faith, expectant wonder, trusting that God is journeying with us in some mysterious way to our new home; a monastery where we can continue to live together our life of adoration, praise and intercession. 

This has been a bittersweet year of last times: the last time for the celebration of our Triduum in honor of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in this monastery; the last barbeque on the patio, the last beautiful autumn colors on the trees of this magnificent property, the last stroll down to the Hudson River, the last celebrations of Thanksgiving and Christmas…  

Other news:

We were blessed to be able to care for our Sr. Peg at home, with the help of the wonderful people of Hospice, during her final months.  Sister died peacefully on February 21, 2011, with the community surrounding her with love and prayers.  

We participated in three programs of the Metropolitan Association of Contemplative Communities this year: The Effects of Modern Technology on Contemplative Religious Life with Sr. Lynn Levo, CSJ; The Implementation of the Third Typical Edition of the Roman Missal: A Moment of Recognitio! with Sr. Sandra DeMasi, SSJ and Msgr. Richard Groncki; and Women Working for Peace with United Nations NGO Sr. Margaret Mayce, OP.

Our fifteen lay Associates met regularly on the second Sunday of the month for input concerning our charism, to deepen their prayer life and support one another in order to follow the way of Jesus, making the redeeming love of God present in their daily lives.

We were blessed to have Fr. Ronald McAinsh, CSsR Provincial from the London Province, as our Retreat Director. His timely reflections were on “Transitions: Physical, Generational, Emotional and Spiritual.” 

We mourn the loss this year of Redemptorist Fr. Joseph Opptiz who made our foundress known throughout the world with his book, The Mystic Who Remembered: The Life and Message of Sister Maria Celeste Crostarosa OSsR.  We published this popular book a number of years ago and next year we plan to publish a third run.  

On December 7, 1957 six Redemptoristines came from Canada to begin the first foundation of the Order of the Most Holy Redeemer in the United States in Esopus.  This December 7^th, to celebrate our 54^th year we invite the local religious and lay Associates for a Vigil Service for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, as a way of thanking them for their friendship and prayerful support throughout the years. 

As we journey through this time of Advent, and as our Christmas gift, you and your loved ones will have a special remembrance in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass December 16^th to 24^th during our Novena before Christmas.   On those evenings after Vespers we extinguish all the lights and pray by the glow of the Advent wreath for your intentions with these words:

‘Adore, oh my soul, in the bosom of Mary,

the only begotten Son of God,

who became man for love of you.’

In the coming months, when we have made our definitive plans, we will let you know our new address and contact information.  In the meantime, if you wish to make a donation to help us in the moving process and making our new monastery handicapped accessible, we would greatly appreciate your gift.

May the Prince of Peace be your companion on the journey of life,

and grant you joy and blessings now and always,  

Love and prayers, Your Redemptoristine Sisters

Redemptoristine Nuns of New York

P.O. Box 220

Esopus, New York 12429-0220

845-384-6533

RedNuns.Esopus@gmail.com

http://www.redemptoristinenunsofnewyork.org/

Blog: www.MonasticMusingsOSsR.blogspot.com

Sisters Moira, Mary Anne, Maria Linda, Mary Jane,

Paula, Mary, Maria Paz, Lydia, Hildegard

Advent Season Begins

Feast of St. Andrew
Start of a Christmas Novena

Now that we are well into tripping our way through Mass with the Roman Missal, Third Edition, we can move on. But before we do, why don't yopu take a bit of time to post a comment about how the adjustment to the New Roman Missal is going in your parish or how it feels to you. Just click on the word "comments" below and go for it.

We can now look toward orienting ourselves to the Advent journey. This is the mystery of Mary's "Yes" to the angel Gabriel and Jesus' "Yes" to the desire of the Father that the second person of the Blessed Trinity should become incarnate in human flesh, should enter into our human condition.

Today is the feast of St. Andrew the Apostle and the tradition day to start a Christmas prayer practice. I weas introduced to this as a high school student be the good sisters of St. Joseph of Brentwood, NY at Fontbonne Hall Academy. A little card I have saved through the years bears the 1897 imprimatur of Michael Augustine, Archbishop  of New York.

Hail and blessed be the hour and the moment

in which the Son of God was born

of the most pure Virgin Mary,

at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.

In that hour vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer

and grant my petition

through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ,

and of His Blessed Mother.

Amen.

This prayer is to be said 15 times a day beginning today and ending on Christmas day. Perfect for the intention dearest to your heart at this time.